This invention relates to a connector for joining multi-conductor cables such as ribbon cables, and to a connector system comprising the connectors and cables.
In the mining industry, multi-conductor ribbon cables are used to connect electrically actuated detonators to a central controller. Typically, a four-conductor harness is provided, to which five-conductor cables from each detonator are connected. This requires connector elements to be fixed to the harness at regular intervals, to which mating connector elements can be attached, to connect the detonators to the harness.
Due to the large number of connectors used, the cost of the connectors becomes significant. In particular, given that the operational life of the connectors is very short, the provision of conventional, relatively expensive connectors in such an application is wasteful. Typically, the detonators of the system will be actuated within, say, two hours after connection of the detonators to the harness, destroying the connectors or rendering them unusable. It would thus be desirable to provide a relatively low cost connector for such applications, which need perform reliably for only a relatively short period.